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680 VON TROIL’S LETTERS ON ICELAND.
if 2, sSiax nO
Hilmir vann at holmi
5 me
Hialm-fhoth rothni blothi
3 es Toes ws
Huat ofduldu theff hoeldar
Aut 10 aa 12
Hoerd oc auftur i goerthorm
LSE 2Ots 29795 19
Rogs bra Recka laegir
10 Baty OK
Riikur valkera lipki
2B. Sia 1h aay
Herfiefnir let hrofnum
25 26 28
Hold flaemingia goldit.
‘ ‘They had, thirdly, a particular poetical language (Skald/kaparmal) which was very
copious, but could not be made ufe of in common life. ‘This language probably made
one of the principal parts of their ftudies in thofe times, as they were not infenfible
of its beauty and elegance. Thus for example there are upwards of fifty fynonymes
of the word bé/ja, billow or wave. And Chevalier Ihre quotes Lopt Guttormfon’s
Lyodalykil (a love-fong) in which there are many different appellations, which all ex-
prefs the word woman. I fhall borrow a few lines of this poem, which are mentioned
in the Eddaamong the kringaheiti, and which prove how far thefe poets went in their
Antonomafias.
Heingi eg hamri kringdan
Hang a riupu tangar.
Grimnis fylgs a galga
Gynnung bruar linna.
The natural difpofition of thefe words is this : Eg heingi hamri kringdan linna gynnung a
hang riupu bruar tangar, a Grymnis fylgs galga ; which means, ‘‘ I hang the round beaten
gaping f{nake on the end of the bridge of the mountain bird, at the gallows of Odin’s
fhield.”” To find the fenfe of thefe words, Mr. Ihre obferves, that by the gallows of
Odin’s fhield is meant the arm, on which it is ufual to hang on the fhield. By the
word ripa is underftood a falcon, for a fkaid has the permiffion of putting one genus
for another. The bridge of the falcon is the hand, on which the falconer places him,
and its end or tong (tongue) is the finger. The gaping round beaten fnake means
: ring ; and confequently this long fory means no more than, I put a ring on my
nger.
Fourthly, to make themfelves ftiil more intelligible, when two words had the fame
found, the Skalds were allowed the liberty of putting the periphrafis of the one for the
other : for example, the word // figmifies a horfe’s hoof. or foot ; but the fame word
likewife means decency, moderation, underftanding; and to exprefs this the horfe’s
hoof was frequently made ule of. But the principal difficulty in the explanation of
this ancient poetry proceeds from the extreme incorreétnefs of the manufcripts of our
Sagas, particularly of the poetry, which cannot be read correctly without great atten-
tion. ‘Thefe are the caufes why the greater part of the.verfes in their Sagas, publifhed
either
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